Choosing a Solicitor to Manage Your Accident Claim
Deciding on a solicitor to manage your accident claim is both an important and complicated decision. You must take time to ensure that you get the best solicitor you can for the job or else you may risk having any compensation reduced, or your case could fail entirely. The more complex your accident claim, the better and more experienced your solicitor should be.
It’s certainly not advisable to use a claims management company because their legal advice is not always the best. Consider why a solicitor would be paying claims management companies to buy cases like yours. Do you want a solicitor who buys his or her clients to handle your case?
Instead, find a solicitor with experience and specialism in personal injury. There is nothing to stop you researching law firms on their websites or by contacting them directly. You should certainly ensure that they are members of one or more personal injury professional bodies, such as APIL, MASS to the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority Personal Injury Accredited Scheme.
Once you believe that you have found a firm you can trust with your accident claim, ensure that they are prepared to see you free of charge for an initial consultation. At the consultation you should provide as many details as you possibly can about the accident and your injuries so that the solicitor can accurately decide whether you have a case for making an accident claim. However, the consultation also gives you the opportunity to check out your solicitor’s suitability. Don’t be afraid to ask them how many personal injury claims they have handled recently and how they were settled.
After the initial consultation your solicitor should provide you with plenty of information, written down for you to take away and think about. You should leave with a detailed understanding of how much your claim might be worth, whether or not it is likely to be a success, the costs and risks associated with it and the probable length of time it would take. If you leave in any doubt as to the answers of these questions then your accident claim solicitor is not worthy or your case.